


Zero to  Sixty

by uvonovae



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-06 12:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3133688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uvonovae/pseuds/uvonovae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Korra's been having a tough time navigating the vine issue in Republic City, but finds some unexpected comfort in her budding friendship with Asami Sato, who she'd more or less been avoiding....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who goes first?

**Author's Note:**

> I know in canon only two weeks passed between books two and three, but for the sake of this story lets say it was two months instead.

[](http://s1368.photobucket.com/user/thatmonkeyfromjumanji/media/9815_zps5cetka4i.png.html)

The late afternoon sun was coming in through Korra's open window along with an unusually cool breeze and the distant sounds of the bay crashing against Air Temple Island.

She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, fumbling with a Pai Sho piece and studying the board.

It had been a while since she'd played and it showed – she was loosing. Not by much, but loosing all the same.

"Hey, do you mind closing the window? I'm getting a little chilly." Asami asked, gesturing slightly with a nod of her head (she too was staring at the board in contemplation as usual; Korra had noticed after the first game they played together that Asami rarely ever took her eyes off it).

"Oh yeah, sorry. I like the cold so much sometimes I forget not everyone grew up around ice and snow."

Korra put her piece down on the spot she'd been eyeing, not caring so much that it probably wasn't the best move to be making.

The game would be over soon anyway.

Sure enough as soon as she slid off the bed to close the window she heard the clack of a Pai Sho tile against the board, and Asami's usual victory speech, "do you want to play again?"

"I'm up for it if you are" Korra responds, closing the window shutters and making a mental note to stop leaving the window open when Asami came to visit.

Korra had to suppress a grin because she knew, without needing an answer, that Asami would want to play again.

They hadn't been hanging out together for very long but Korra figured out pretty quickly that Asami was in love with the game.

"You know, you're pretty good at this - I mean, you didn't strike me as the Pai Sho type" Asami finished quickly, catching the look of mock hurt on Korra's face as she climbed back onto her bed.

"When I was living at the compound on the south pole I used to play sometimes with the White Lotus guards. It wasn't my first choice of  _fun activity_ but aside from them I had no one else to do anything with…"

Korra leaned forward to grab her next piece and stopped once she saw Asami's expression.

"…? What's wrong?"

"What do you mean you had no one else to do anything with?"

Korra was confused for a moment before realizing that she'd never spoken to Asami about her life on the compound.

They hadn't really been talking and hanging out for very long and it wasn't really something to begin a conversation with, at least Korra thought so.

"Yeahhhhh….I guess I never talked to you about that. Or anyone in Republic City, really."

Asami made her move, then looked intently back to Korra.

"Do you want to tell me? I'd like to hear it."

Korra couldn't help but smile. Asami really had a way about her that was so genuine it kind of surprised her.

To be honest, she wished she'd gotten over the initial awkwardness and gotten to know Asami way sooner than she did.

"Well…until I came here to Republic City I lived most of my life in a compound on the south pole with the other White Lotus members. Sometimes Katara and my parents would visit – when I was pretty young I actually remember my mom staying at the compound with me for a few months…"

Korra found herself trailing of, leaning back against the wall and fidgeting a little.

It wasn't that she hated talking about her time at the compound but it was giving her a strange feeling.

Kind of a lonely feeling.

Asami grabbed the edges of the Pai Sho board and gestured at the table by Korra's bed. "Do you mind if I put this away for now?"

"You don't want to play still? It's getting kind of late - "

"It's fine, I think three games is plenty. I want to hear your story! I can't believe you were alone like that for so long."

"Well, I don't know about  _alone,_ I mean I had Naga - "

"No Korra, I meant alone like….friends. You didn't have anyone your age to be with?"

Korra turned away a bit, not wanting Asami to see the look she couldn't keep off her face.

No, she didn't have anyone her age. No friends, no play, just practice.

"Well, aside from the one or two times Desna and Eska visited me with Unalaq, yeah I was alone. And I didn't really think of Desna or Eska as  _friends._ They're weird now but when we were kids it was worse. They never wanted to do  _anything_ , especially waterbend for fun. Said it was a waste and a mockery of their gifts, or something. It's hard to remember."

It wasn't hard to remember – Korra remembered all the times she'd tried to sneak out of the compound and all the lonely days wishing she had a friend.

It got better once she met Naga, but a polar bear dog's love can only go so far.

What she really wanted was to make a connection with someone –  _anyone_  who wasn't some White Lotus guard assigned to train and protect her.

"Oh Korra, that's really awful. You must have been pretty lonely."

Korra felt a swift sting of regret. She was amazed that not only did Asami not hold the whole Mako debacle over her head, but she sincerely wanted to befriend her.

_Yeah, I really should have tried talking to her sooner._

"I guess it was pretty lonely, but I always had my bending. I was always practicing, always pushing myself. Not to mention I became so used to being alone that as I got older it became less of a problem. To be honest though…"

Korra stole a glance at Asami and saw she was still looking at her with that expression of pity that made her shift her gaze again.

"I feel like if I had to go back to that life now, it would be unbearably lonely."

Asami was silent momentarily and the only sounds were that of Meelo and Ikki causing a ruckus in the hallway.

Korra didn't know what to say, and dearly hoped Asami would say something to lighten the atmosphere. She hoped she didn't come across like she wanted a pity parade.

_Maybe this wasn't the right thing to talk about now…_

"You know Korra" Asami said softly, "I don't think you'd ever have to worry about that. It'd take a  _lot_  of White Lotus guards to drag you back there. Plus, I'd fight 'em off with you."

Before Korra had a chance to respond Asami slid off the bed, stretching and yawning slightly.

"You're right, it is getting late. I should get home; I still have work to do. We should do this again tomorrow though, I'll most likely be done with work before nighttime. You should pick me up. If you're not busy, of course."

"Oh? Yeah, that sounds great actually. All I'm doing is trying to get rid of those stupid vines, I could use a break. I'll come get you after dinner."

"Great. It's a plan. See you tomorrow Korra."

After Korra had walked Asami out (with Meelo's "help") she stood outside and watched her ride her moped out to the docks to catch the ferry back to the city.

It was still chilly and the waves were picking up.

_I really should have gotten to know her sooner…_

_  
_

* * *

__

  


"My parents used to play Pai Sho all the time" she'd said, dividing the tiles for their very first game, about two weeks prior.

"When I was a kid I remember them playing every night after dinner. Dinner, tea, Pai Sho, then back to work at home."

On that same day, Korra happened to bump into Asami while shopping downtown.

In the literal sense – she actually did bump into Asami, pretty hard, while shopping downtown.

Korra was browsing in an antique shop (she recognized the area where she'd first encountered the police in Republic City) when she rounded a shelf at the same time someone was coming from the opposite end and – well long story short they collided, causing the other person to drop the rolls of parchment they were carrying.

"Oh! I'm sorry - "

"No, I should have been - "

Their eyes met and Korra was more or less pleasantly surprised to see Asami Sato, who she'd been…well, kind of avoiding as of late.

Not out of any bad feelings of course – Korra was at a complete loss for how to go about initiating conversation with Asami after the whole Mako blunder.

She had been wanting to speak to Asami and apologize properly but none of her rehearsed speeches seemed right, and it was pretty easy to "distract" herself with the issue of the vines all over the city.

Turns out conversation came pretty easily! Asami asked what Korra was shopping for (a new Pai Sho set for Jinora) and it all pretty much flowed from there.

"Oh, Jinora plays Pai Sho? I'm somewhat of a Pai Sho buff myself" Asami said, bundling the newly retrieved scrolls in her arms.

"Do you…need some help picking one out? I'm not really up to anything right now and I've  _kinda_ been wanting to talk to you."

"Oh yeah, sure. To tell the truth I don't really know much about what to look for in a Pai Sho set. And... I've been wanting to talk to you too."

Korra's more-or-less pleasure of running into Asami quickly became a definite blessing – she was a huge help in looking for Jinora's gift.

Korra had played a bit of Pai Sho (emphasis on the  _bit_  part) when she was growing up on the compound in the south pole, but she never really cared about the finer details in buying a board and pieces.

"See, something like this" Asami mentioned, pointing to a thick, heavy looking Pai Sho set with grooves set in the board to hold tiles,"is really all you're going to find in an antique store. It's really more of a decoration piece or conversation starter than something you'd play with, unless you're really delicate with it….do you think Jinora would want something a little more modern?"

To be honest Korra didn't really think about that.

"Um….well I mean, Tenzin's set is pretty similar to this one, and I know he doesn't like her using it all the time…uhhh…."

"How about a portable set? I know a store that sells them pretty cheap if you have the time to head out."

Korra agreed, they found the perfect set (well, really Asami found the perfect set and Korra thanked her profusely for the insight) and ended up starting their own game at the central park in Republic City once Korra mentioned how she hadn't played Pai Sho in a long time but felt too embarrassed to ask Jinora to play with her.

"My father especially loved Pai Sho. So, naturally, he taught me to play pretty young."

Asami divvied up the final tiles and looked at Korra with a smile.

"So, who goes first?"


	2. A timely incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami enlists Korra's help with an issue the vines have caused her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i need a beta hmu if youre interested

"So was he slimy?  Did he smell bad?   _I_ had to stay in the house so _I_ didn't get to see him good but he looked like he'd be slimy - "

"Meelo!  For the last time, no, my uncle Unalaq didn't turn into a slimy spirit monster.  Just a regular one.  Now will you please leave me alone, I'm trying to meditate."

"No you're not.  You're getting up and moving around.  You're not supposed to move around when you're meditating."

Korra sighed and opened her eyes to shoot Meelo a pretty convincing you'd-better-leave-me-alone-or-else look, which of course didn't phase him.  The torrent of questions was unleashed.  Again.

She knew Meelo was just curious and wanted to hang out with her but spirits it took a lot of patience to not just airbend him right back in the house.  Even if she had ten more hands she still wouldn't be able to count on her fingers how many questions he'd had asked her about her vanquishing Unalaq.  

At first it was pretty flattering and fun; it's pretty cool to brag about manhandling a spirit monster, but enough was enough days ago.

"Meelo, kid, you're driving me nuts."

"You're welcome for that!"

Okay, patience worn thin.  Before Korra could earthbend Meelo across the island, Bumi (and Bumju) caught her eye walking up the hill towards the meditation pavilion.

Instantly her spirits lifted – Meelo adored Bumi and was infatuated with Bumju; the both of them together was definitely enough to get him off her hands.

"Oh hey! Bumi! What's up?"

Korra tried to give Bumi her best please-save-me-this-kid-is-driving-me-up-the-wall look from over Meelo's shoulder.

"Oh hey, Bumi!  Right on time, just the guy I wanted to see!"

Bumi walked up to them with a quizzical look on his face, clearly directed at Korra.

"Oh.  Hey there, kiddos.  Just came by to say you got a phone call.  Some official avatar business."

Korra knew full well this "avatar business" Bumi spoke of was probably something to do with the vines, but really at that moment it couldn't have mattered less.

_Well, really it's moving from one annoyance to another but hey…_

Korra sat up and dusted her pants off as Meelo ran over to Bumi and made grabby hands at Bumju.

"Can I hold him uncle Bumi?  I won't squeeze him."

"Well that's not up to me, it's up to Bumju!  And he says no."

"That's not fair!"

"No, whats not fair is you squeezing poor Bumju to death.  How can he trust you again?"

With a derisive snort Meelo conjured up an air scooter and ran a ring around Bumi before taking off and sticking his tongue out at Korra and his uncle.

"That kid is nuts!  Cute as a button, though" Bumi said, stroking Bumju behind the ears.

"He reminds me of me as a kid.  Not as cute of course, but still there's family resemblance."

"Uh huh.  So, where's the avatar needed for some avatar business?"

Bumi opened his mouth to say something then paused.

"Hm."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, hm.  I forgot."

Korra was beyond exasperated.

"Okayyyy… well… that doesn't help me much.  Or at all."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, kid.  I'm getting forgetful in my old age!"

Bumi said this with a grin and a sweeping gesture Korra thought was supposed to be humorous but the only thing running through her mind was president Raiko dragging her over coals about being absent from the city's problems.  Ever since the vines first burst into the scene at Republic City everyone turned to Raiko for answers, which of course he had none of, so he dumped the entirety of the situation on Korra.

But, to honest, she did have a hand in causing the problem, and she was the avatar.  Originally she thought she'd be done with them in days; how much trouble can some vines be?

Lotsof trouble as she soon found out.

Nothing was working – firebending, trying to cut the vines at the root, trying to unearth them – Korra was at a complete and utter loss and so was Raiko.

_What a pain…_

Korra thanked Bumi for his "help" and headed back to the house.  She'd grab her glider and head over to Raiko's office, as she was pretty sure he was the one who called (as far as she knew not everyone in the city had Tenzin's phone number).

The day was nice so she'd at least be able to enjoy the fly over before facing Raiko's transparent anger.  Reaching the house she took off her shoes (as Pema had let her know on multiple occasions how often she forgot to do so) and headed for her room, stepping over one of Meelo's lemurs which was asleep in the hallway.

"Oh, Korra!  Did Bumi tell you about your call?  And can you please throw that lemur outside, the last thing I need is more animal hair coating this house…"

"Hey Pema.  Yeah he… kinda told me" Korra said, picking up the lemur, which chattered and thrashed violently before flying further off into the house.

" _Auuugh!_  I keep telling Meelo to keep those things out; I swear once one gets in it takes days to get it out."

Pema started off down the hallway, presumably to start her days-long lemur extraction, and paused to look back at Korra with a confused expression.

"What do you mean he 'kind of' told you?"

"He just said that someone called about some avatar business.  But he forgot who called."

Pema's look of confusion changed instantly to one of amusement.

"Really?  How could he have forgotten, he was just here…well it was Asami Sato who called.  Something about a vine… I can't remember, sorry.  I wish I could help more."

"No, no, that's great!  Thanks Pema!"

"Thank _you_ Korra for taking off your shoes."

Korra snagged her glider and stepped out, hoping to maybe catch Naga and give her a good scratch behind the ears before she left.  Naga was nowhere to be found (probably with Jinora), so she took off immediately for the city.   It would be fun to talk to Asami again, even if it was due to the vines.

The two of them had been hanging out pretty frequently lately; sometimes with Bolin but mostly just them.  Their main haunt was the racetracks – it was dead easy for Asami to get great seats.

Asami kept asking Korra if she wanted to race, but that never really reached any fruition.  As much as she hated to admit it it kind of embarrassed her how she was supposed to be the most powerful person in existence but couldn't drive to save her life.

She was looking forward to seeing Asami, but it was pretty tempting to take a bit of a detour and fly over the city.

Despite the huge heap of problems they were causing for her and everyone else in the city, the vines were actually pretty cool.  She liked the view of the city from above - all the buildings and vines wrapped up together looked so unique.

Jinora had told Korra before numerous times that she should just leave the vines be; obviously they weren't going anywhere, and why would she want to get rid of them anyway when they were where the spirits lived?

While Korra did have a bit… of an issue with "displacing" the spirits who lived there, the comment about them obviously not going anywhere irked her badly.

_If I can vanquish Unalaq and Vaatu I can pick some huge spirit weeds… or I should be able to anyway…_

As she approached Asami's backyard she saw she was already outside on the balcony in her room.  She was sitting at a round tea table with her legs crossed, reading the newspaper.

She was wearing a brooch in her hair Korra hadn't seen before and it caught her eye instantly; Asami was so good at choosing things like that, like jewelry and makeup.  To be honest at first Korra thought it was kind of pointless to care about those things but that's just another thing that changed when she started to befriend Asami.

There had been a few times recently when she'd been out in the city and seen jewelry – bangles and whatnot and thought they looked nice but didn't really know if she could pull it off.

Truth be told Korra didn't really want to wear any of them herself, but she liked the thought of buying something like that for Asami.  Or more like she liked that thought if she had any idea of how to pick something like that out…

Korra swooped down and landed with a flourish, hoping Asami would notice (she'd been practicing this landing, it looked really cool) but she was still glued to her newspaper.

"Heyyyy Asami.  I heard you called.  Avatar stuff, and whatnot."

Asami glanced up and smiled at Korra (she was wearing a darker shade of lipstick today, too) and said she'd be ready to leave in just a minute.

"I guess Cabbage Corp is planning to unveil a new airship design… this is all very timely..."

"Timely?"

Korra propped her staff up against the railing and moved to take a seat next to Asami.  Maybe they could catch a bite to eat later?  Noodles?

Noodles sounded pretty good but it'd been a while since she'd had dumplings.

"Yeah.  Turns out Future Industries has been hit by a bit of an issue.  Or three issues.  This morning when one of my engineers was doing inventory in one of our storehouses, and suddenly three huge vines sprouted up and tore through the roof."

Asami set down her newspaper and sighed deeply, massaging her temples.  Korra couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt at this.  She knew Future Industries was struggling to get back on top after the whole Varrick debacle even though that was more or less sorted out.

That on top of property destruction via vines was such a double whammy she couldn't help but feel awful for Asami having to deal with so much.

"I know you've got a lot on your plate with this vine situation, and I know nothing you've been trying so far has worked, but I'd appreciate it so much if you can try and help me with this.  I haven't been to see the damage yet but from what I was told it's pretty substantial."

Asami ran her fingers through her hair and checked her watch before yet another deep sigh.

"Well I haven't even dealt with this yet and I'm already feeling like I've been wrung dry.  Do you want to get something to eat after this?  There's this dumpling stand I've heard about from my attendant that I've been wanting to try.  And I know I'm going to need some comfort food after this."

"You had me at dumplings, Asami."

Korra was trying hard to suppress the grin threatening to break out on her face.  Despite the bad news she was pretty pleased she and Asami were on the same wavelength about the food.

"Well alright… we should get going" Asami said, standing and straightening out her skirt.

"I'm driving, do you want to come with me?  I don't think your glider is built for two."

"No it could work; I could totally just hold you - "

"…?"

"Uh… ha!  Haha!  What am I even talking about?  Now's not the time for… jokes… "

_What on Earth am I talking about!_

Asami raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly before beckoning Korra to get up and join her.

"As tempting as the offer sounds I'm pretty sure it's not a good idea for me to be flying above the city in a skirt, showing off my underwear to the city.  I'll drive."

Korra gulped and stood to join Asami, almost walking out and forgetting her glider.

_Okay, Vine Mode, Vine Mode… keep my mind on the vines, gotta figure out how to fix this…_

As they headed out of the Sato mansion and into the garages to start up Asami's car Korra couldn't help but think about holding Asami in her arms and flying around the city like a hero.

They drove off towards the Future Industries storehouses and still the image was stuck on repeat in her head with no signs of stopping.

_Seriously, what on Earth am I thinking…_


	3. A helping hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra's plan to help Asami gets flipped on its head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Work is killing me sorry for the delay

With a dejected sigh Korra sat down on the curb and buried her face in her hands.  Nothing was getting rid of the vines.

She'd spent over twenty minutes trying to eliminate the colossal vines that had torn through one of Future Industries storehouses but they remained unchanged, still mocking her with their existence.

Not being able to perform her avatar duties was bothering her enough – tack on the added pressure of wanting to help her friend who was personally affected by what was essentially her own mess was even worse.  The unrelenting presence of the press wasn't helping in any way either.

Korra didn't exactly have good history with them and their obnoxious flashing cameras and loud, demanding questions (aside from being reminded of Tarrlock using reporters to manipulate her, the past few weeks had been a flurry of press meetings with president Raiko not-so-subtly writing her off as incompetent).

So, when she and Asami pulled up to the storehouse and saw almost a dozen of them Korra's mood soured significantly.

The ride over with Asami was fun and it was nice to see her again after the few days she'd been too busy to hand out but any elation she felt then was pretty much gone once Korra caught sight of the problem.  Even while they were entire city blocks away from the storehouse Korra could see the three huge, glossy vines jutting upwards and amassing together.

She'd hoped that maybe (just maybe) those three particular behemoths weren't the vines in question but sure enough Asami confirmed that yes, the monster vines were the ones her inventory workers called her about.

Asami went on to assure Korra that there was “no pressure” and that she was happy if Korra even attempted to help, but the pressure was most definitely there, and it was crushing Korra's spirit something awful.

Truth be told, simply helping Asami wasn't all that was on her mind.

She'd been so swept up in making friends with her that Korra  had been more or less hoping to...well to be blunt she was hoping totally knock Asami's socks off by getting rid of the stupid vines once and for all.

About ten minutes into the whole thing it was pretty clear that wasn't going to happen though.  It was humiliating watching the reporters observe her trying and failing to get anything done, but thankfully they didn't stick around very long as it seemed they'd have the same old story to tell ( This just in!  Avatar Korra still clueless about the vines!).

_I wish I could connect with Aang right now...or any of the other avatars._

She was abruptly brought back to reality by Asami's sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

“Hey Korra, do you want to get out of here?  I've triple checked and it turns out the damage really isn't so bad...well, outside of the roof and floor that is.  Plus there's really not much more I can do here anyway.”

“Well there's plenty _I_  should be doing here!”

As soon as it came out of her mouth Korra regretted it – she really didn't mean to snap at Asami but snapping came easily after stewing in her bad thoughts. 

“I'm sorry, Asami, it’s just -”

Korra paused, trying to find a way to properly convey herself.

“It's just....I mean, they're just some dumb vines but they're causing so much trouble for everyone, and Raiko's on my case about it, and I kind of feel like a failure -”

She was cut short by Asami gently squeezing her shoulder and offering her a hand up.

“C'mon Korra, let’s just go.  I don't like seeing you like this; why don't we get some food and go do something fun to take our minds off this, okay?  Or we can talk about it later when we’ve both relaxed a bit more?”

Hearing Asami say this, especially _when we’ve both relaxed_ simmered Korra down a bit, to tell the truth.  The fact that she had lashed out at her earlier when Asami had a bit more reason to be upset by the situation kind of embarrassed her though.

That aside, Asami’s eager smile was a bit too much for Korra to see and stay in a bad mood.  

Even though she didn't need it she took Asami's hand up and brushed off her pants.

“You know I have to admit Asami, you can be pretty persuasive when you want to.”

Asami shook her hair and rested her hand on her hip, still smiling.

“Of course.  I'm a young business woman; persuasiveness is a must have.”

Korra couldn't help but smile at the mock snooty expression on Asami's face.

The more they spent time together the more Korra really grew to appreciate her whole demeanor.  They got along so well it was almost as if they'd known each other longer than they did – Asami had a way of effortlessly cheering Korra up and it was honestly pretty refreshing.

“Did you still want dumplings?” Asami asked as she pulled her car keys from her pocket, “Because I'm really craving them.”

Korra agreed instantly; all the bending she'd been doing really wore her out.  Not to mention she wanted to go out and have fun with Asami after the decidedly bad time she'd been having.

“Oh hey, you know what would be fun?  We should invite Mako and Bolin too!  It's been way too long since all of us hung out together.”

Korra felt her heart drop into her stomach at this suggestion.

“....Yeah....”

It wasn't that Korra didn't want to hang out with Mako and Bolin (it was the opposite, in fact) but things between her and Mako weren't exactly on the level.  He'd been blatantly avoiding her for weeks now and the most they'd spoken to wasn't much more than a few words.

Even after his and Bolin's apartment was raided by vines and they were invited to stay at Air Temple Island he'd spent maybe a few days total sleeping there – as far as she'd heard from Bolin he'd been sleeping at work to “focus on his job”.

It wasn't that she was mad at him at all; she was actually kind of hurt by it.  She understood the kind of person Mako was and as such wasn't surprised that he'd want to withdraw himself from her and not confront the awkwardness of transitioning back to just being friends, but still she'd hoped that their friendship would survive and that didn't seem to be happening.

Directly after the breakup she'd thought that maybe him avoiding her was for the best; after all it was difficult to see him every day and be reminded of how everything between them ended.

Not to mention she wanted to be more considerate of his feelings than she'd been in the past and not force Mako to do anything that was hard for him.

Unfortunately those feelings didn't last long.  Boyfriend or not, she wanted Mako in her life and his absence was definitely noticed.  Catching Korra’s hesitation, Asami leaned down a bit to look Korra in the eye.

“What's wrong?  Do you want it to be just us today?”

Korra shrugged, tugging at her hair a bit. 

“It's not that.  Bolin is fine and all, but I don't think Mako's gonna want to do anything with me if I'm being honest.  Not to be a downer about it or anything but… I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Asami raised an eyebrow at Korra before narrowing her eyes intensely.

“Let me guess, he's avoiding you too?”

“Yeah.”

“Making up excuses about why he can't see you?”

“Yeah...”

Asami sighed and smiled, rubbing her forehead with her fingertips.

“I swear, that boy needs to get himself together.”

“It's not his fault though” Korra cut in, “I know he's just too much of an awkward dork to be able to hang out with me right now because of....well, the breakup.”

Asami was silent momentarily as she pursed her lips, still rubbing her forehead.

“How long has it been now since you two broke up?  Two, three weeks?”

“Three.  Well, almost three.  In a few days.”

Asami murmured sympathetically, lowering her hand back down to her hip.

“You know Korra, I understand how difficult it can be to stay friends with someone you used to date, especially when you... really cared about them.”

She glanced at Korra with a sheepish expression before finishing with “but if you want them in your life you have to put hurt feelings aside.  I did.”

Korra practically recoiled at the swift pang of guilt that shot through her.  Everything that happened between them and Mako last year had gone more or less unmentioned.

It wasn’t that Korra was avoiding the topic – in fact there had been plenty of times when she had the intention of bringing it up (and apologizing!) but it just never happened.  It was too sensitive a topic to open a conversation with (hey, remember that time I kissed your boyfriend?  That was wild!  Anyway, sorry about that!), and it was too much of a mood killer to bring up after she and Asami had been hanging out and having fun.  To be honest Korra felt like she was enjoying her time with Asami too much to ruin it by bringing up all that stuff.

As the two of them stood in a decidedly awkward silence Korra wondered if now would be the time to lay the elephant rhino in the room to rest; the atmosphere was already off the rails anyway.

She opened her mouth to say….well, she wasn’t sure honestly, she just wanted to get the ball rolling while she had the gumption, but Asami cut in before she had the chance.

“Um, that didn’t really come out right.  I’m not trying to be passive aggressive or anything it’s just – I’m just trying to say I know what you’re going through right now, with Mako.  At least a little bit; we didn’t date as long as you two did.  But I know he still wants you around; it’s obvious he cares about you like family.  He’s just too withdrawn to reach out so you’ll have to do it.  That’s what I ended up doing, anyway.  Trust me, if I didn’t make that first move we probably would’ve been in that horrible awkward stage for months.”

Korra felt a familiar warm feeling settle inside her as she thought of a way to convey her thanks to Asami.  She’d never quite experienced anything like the friendship they were building.  It felt like as soon as Korra opened up to the possibility to get to know her better it just…happened with such ease. 

This was the first time she’d slipped so comfortably into stride with.  Being with Asami felt like being with an old friend…it kinda felt like home.

To be fair, though, she didn’t exactly have much experience when it came to making friends.

“Thanks for the advice.  Really.  I’ve been thinking about what to do with Mako for a while and I don’t really have anyone to talk to about it.  It’s a lot of help, especially after….well, you know.”

Asami tilted her head slightly, saying “Really?  After what?”

“Um…well…Mako and all…”

Korra’s response was stumbling and barely coherent – she could feel any and all moisture in her mouth evaporating on the spot.  She was not at all expecting Asami to not know what she was talking about and as such had no idea how to react.   She felt a slight blush burning her cheeks, hoping Asami wouldn’t notice her all-round awkwardness.

“Oh my goodness Korra I’m just joking!” Asami laughed, playfully nudging her shoulder.

 _“Oh._ Oh…yeah.”

Asami was still laughing a bit as Korra’s blush continued to spread across her face.

“Has anyone ever told you that you wear your heart on your sleeve, Korra?”

“No….I do?”

“You do.  Don’t worry about it though – the whole Mako thing, I mean.  I’m long over it; he and I just couldn’t make it work.  Somehow I think things would’ve ended between us anyway even if you hadn’t…intervened.  Plus, I was never really all that upset with you.”

This was definitely a surprise to Korra.

Not that Asami was ever hostile towards her but she’d always figured there would be some resentment on her end.  It was a pretty big relief actually.

“You weren’t?  Really?  That’s a little surprising to be honest.”

 _You're_   _kind of surprising, actually,_ Korra thought, watching Asami smirk and wave off Korra’s concern as if it were nothing.

“It’s surprising?  Well it doesn’t really matter now, water under the bridge and all…besides, it’s not hard to see why Mako was interested in you.”

Distant bells were chiming in the back of Korra’s mind as Asami headed for her car, gesturing for Korra to follow her.  She wanted to ask what Asami meant by that but it seemed kinda…

“So what do you say?  Let’s go pick up the boys, huh?  It’ll be fun to have Team Avatar back together again.”

“…It won’t be weird?”

“No, no way.”

“Are you sure?”

“Korra I’m one hundred percent positive it’s going to be fun.  Don’t worry.”

As they climbed in the car (Asami’s earlier statement still buzzing in Korra’s ears), Asami gave her shoulder another reassuring squeeze and Korra gave her most convincing I’m-sure-you’re-right-there’s-totally-no-way-this-could-be-awkward grin.

 _Hopefully this_ will _be fun.  Positive thinking… it can’t be that bad.  I’m probably overthinking it…_


	4. A bit of a misstep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami's lunch out doesn't exactly go as planned, but some good things manage to happen nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to write this chapter twice because I saved another fic over it on accident.  
> I'm so tired

“Are you sure you got this?  I have plenty of money, I can cover myself now.”

“Mako, really, it’s fine.  Save your money; it’s my treat.  For you and Korra.”

Korra tried to send an encouraging smile in Mako’s direction, hoping to quell the already tense atmosphere, but if it worked she couldn’t tell.  Their food hadn’t even arrived yet and already Asami’s “It’ll be fine” theory was shot.

It was awkward, _very_ awkward, and Asami was the only one who seemed not to notice.  When the two of them arrived at Air Temple Island, the place was pretty much empty – most of the acolytes were still at the Western Air Temple doing...well, meditating or whatever, and Pema and Tenzin left a note saying they’d taken Bolin and the kids to a play downtown.

It seemed like it was going to be just Korra and Asami (which, again, wasn’t an issue) but while peeking around Asami spotted Mako in Bolin’s room, folding his clothes.

Seeing him made Korra feel a rather uncomfortable mix of emotions.

He _clearly_ was running on little to no sleep – when Asami and Korra knocked on the doorframe he practically jumped out of his skin and he had kind of a rough look about him.  She tried making an offhand joke about him sleeping at work too much and that _really_ didn’t have the effect she wanted it to.  At all.

Getting him to leave the house was like pulling teeth – he kept saying how he had “more work to do” (on top of cleaning Bolin’s disaster of a room) and that he “wouldn’t be good company”.

He barely even looked at Korra, but didn’t seem to mind talking to Asami much.  She was really laying it on thick; mentioning how she and Korra both missed hanging out with him, even if he was busy with work.

Asami’s charm was relentless, and apparently all it took to get Mako to comply. 

Korra tried to not let it bother her but…well, there were definite feelings of jealousy on her end.  There was some kind of joke or something between them – when Asami asked Mako if he wanted to come eat with them she mentioned in a sly voice that “it didn’t have to be Kwong’s”, which he seemed to think was pretty amusing.

She didn’t want it to bother her; she wasn’t even sure of _why_ it bothered her but it did.  A lot.

The drive over to get some food was…well…again, she didn’t want it to bother her, but Mako went for the front seat next to Asami rather than sit in back with her.  It rubbed her raw to see him act at least semi natural around Asami but not her.  She didn’t really like the way Asami smiled at him, either.

Things didn’t get much better at the restraint either (the dumpling stand was too crowded so they moved to Narook’s).

For a moment it seemed like things were going to look up – Narook’s noodles definitely weren’t authentic but eating Water Tribe food usually managed to make her feel better.  Not to mention it was Asami’s first time eating Water Tribe food, and Korra was more than happy to see her reactions.

Mako, who suggested Narook’s, seemed a bit more at ease around her once they sat and skimmed the menus.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you’d choose this place” Korra said to him, “isn’t this Bolin’s favorite place?”

Mako looked over at her from across the table (he was, of course, sitting next to Asami) with a mild look of surprise on his face.  “Yeah, he drags me here all the time.  How’d you know that?”

Korra was a bit too swept up by Mako’s lightened mood and willingness to talk with her that she just blurted out her response without thinking of how it’d go over.

“He mentioned it before when he took me here –“

It hit her then that maybe bringing up her and Bolin’s date was not going to do wonders for the situation in any way, but she couldn’t just drop it mid-sentence.

“Uh…last year.  Before the championship tournament.”

Asami looked genuinely surprised by this, and thinking back Korra realized she’d never spoken to Asami about her and Bolin (though honestly there wasn’t really much to mention).

Mako however…well to put it bluntly, he pretty much shut down again.  What got Korra the most was that he didn’t look angry at all.  He looked sad.

_Yeah, of course.  Of course I’d just bring that up when things start looking up…_

She was ready for the day to be over already.  First the press, next disappointing Asami, then hurting her ex’s feelings.  She didn’t want to see what else was in store for the rest of the day.

“You and Bolin went out?” Asami asked, folding her menu shut and leaning across the table, her hair spilling forward over her shoulders.  “I had no idea!  How long did that last?”

“Um…not – not that long.  It was just one date.  It didn’t mean anything.  I mean –“

She was, thankfully, interrupted by the server coming to their table and asking if they were ready to order.

As they placed their orders Korra was hoping their food would come out quickly.  She was already drained.

“And don’t worry about paying” the server mentioned as he took their menus, “it’s on the house this time.”

Mako shot him a quizzical look as Asami asked why they were being treated to a free meal.

“Not that I mind, per se” she said hurriedly, “it’s just…not every day I get free food from a place I’ve never been to before.”

“Well, miss, I’m not sure _we’ve_ met, but I sure know these two!  Avatar Korra and her boyfriend!  Not sure if you remember or not, but you two saved me and my brother last year.  We were kidnapped by Amon….the rally, or whatever they called it, remember?  I was terrified – practically peeing myself at the thought of losing my bending.  I’ve always wanted to thank you but never got the chance.  And just like that, here you are!  So, yeah, it’s on the house!  Just this once though, we’re not exactly bursting at the seams with money here.”

Their server bowed awkwardly before shuffling off, and Korra was too struck by horror and wild embarrassment that she said nothing to him at all.  The thanks was nice but _jeez_ , the timing of his outdated knowledge regarding her and Mako couldn’t have been any worse.  At all.

She glanced across the table and saw Asami inspecting her nails as if she didn’t hear anything he’d said, with her eyebrows raised and lips pursed dramatically.  She didn’t see Mako’s face as he got up immediately, saying he needed a bathroom break. 

For a moment she and Asami were silent (Korra screaming internally at what had just happened _right after_ she’d thought there was no way the day could get any worse) before Asami cleared her throat grinned from across the table.

“Well…that was interesting…”

“Yeah…”

Despite the atmosphere, Korra couldn’t help but smile inwardly at Asami’s rather over the top expression as she gestured to the space where Mako had been sitting just moments before.

“I’m not sure he’s having the best time.  Sorry.  I didn’t think it would be this weird.  Maybe I should’ve listened to you before.”

Korra shook her head and sighed as she leaned back in her seat, staring up at the ceiling.

“It’s fine.  I mean, things were getting better before that guy came and ruined everything by blabbing about me and Mako dating.”

Asami nodded in agreement before she turned to look over her shoulder toward the bathrooms.

When she turned back to Korra she had a rather sheepish expression on her face before she cleared her throat and folded her hands together.

“Not to stir the pot any further but I was kind of wondering…do you still like him?  Romantically, I mean?”

Korra hesitated a bit, not because she was unsure of her answer in any way, but due to the distant bells chiming in the back of her mind once again.  She was curious as to why Asami would ask that, especially right then at that moment.

“I…why?  I mean –“

“Oh, it’s no big deal – I shouldn’t have even asked, it’s your business so –“

“No!  No, I don’t mind you asking I’m just surprised you’d ask.  Right now.”

Asami shifted a bit in her seat and made an “I dunno” kind of sound right as Mako came back to the table, looking significantly less ruffled than he had earlier (which Korra was more than positive was a front to keep her from worrying about him).

“Hey you two.  I’m actually gonna run back to work – some stuff I forgot about.  Here’s my share for the food; I won’t have time to wait and take it with me, so…yeah.  See you two later.”

Without missing a beat he waved briefly and walked out, hands in his pockets, not looking back.

Korra watched him walk away and considered following him but then realized…what would she say?  The first time they spend together after breaking up and look what ends up happening; if anything it’d probably be harder to get him to spend any time with her in the future.

Groaning, Korra turned back to face Asami and held her head in her hands.  She just wanted to go home before the day got any worse.

“Hey, don’t worry about it too much” Asami said, moving from her seat to sit next to Korra, “sure it’s… gonna be a little awkward now, but it won’t last forever.”

“It was _already_ awkward!  Now it’s….a _disaster_.”

Asami hummed in agreement and rubbed Korra’s shoulder, telling her that all in all it was actually a rather amusing scenario.  “I mean honestly, what are the odds?  You should’ve seen the look on your faces when that guy called Mako your boyfriend.  Not to rub salt in the wound, but… well, it was pretty funny.”

Korra looked up at Asami and saw her grinning wryly, and couldn’t stop herself from smiling back.

Okay, she had to admit that it was funny…. Kind of.  Maybe in a few years when the embarrassment wasn’t so fresh it’d be even funnier.

“Here you are, ladies, and… uh, where’s the guy?  Mr. Scarf?”

“Conflicting work schedule” Asami said brightly, reaching out to help their server set the bowls he was carrying on the table.

“Oh, well alright… should I bring his noodles back, or –“

“No it’s fine, I’ll take them” Korra said immediately.  It’d be a waste not to, and hopefully stuffing her face would bring some kind of relief.

Their server set the bowls down and walked off, leaving Asami practically gaping at the amount of food set out in front of them.

“I had no idea the serving sizes here were…so huge.  I’m not sure if I can finish this.  I don’t even know how you can finish all yours, honestly.”

Korra shrugged a bit in response as her mouth was already full – she’d worked up an appetite and after what just happened she fully planned to indulge herself.

She saw Asami start to wrap her noodles around her chopsticks before clearing her throat and setting them back down against the rim of her bowl.

“So about earlier, when I asked about you and Mako?  If you still liked him?  I was just – I mean I don’t want this to come across strange or anything –“

Asami hesitated, making a roundabout gesture with her hands as she opened her mouth to speak before stopping and frowning a bit.

It was amusing to Korra, to see Asami so visibly flustered.  It was kind of cute.

_Cute?_

Korra’s mind did a bit of a skip as she processed the thought that just shot through her.  Asami was very pretty, to be sure, Korra had always noticed this, but cute was something else.

Cute was seeing someone and wanting to wrap your arms around them, to cuddle up with them and kiss them on the forehead.

_Cute…?_

“What I’m trying to say, I guess, is that if you _do_ still like him then I –“

“No, no” Korra said in between mouthfuls, “I don’t.  Still like him like that.”

“Oh.  Okay.”

Looking at Asami, Korra would definitely say she was cute.  The way she tucked her hair back behind her ear was cute, the way she sat with her napkin on her lap was cute…

“…Korra?  Is something wrong?”

“What?  No, no I was just thinking.  About Mako.”

It flustered her a bit to be caught staring, but no way could she tell Asami _oh nothing’s wrong I’m just noticing how cute it is when you tilt your head a bit when you smile sometimes._

“He’ll come around” Asami said before finishing her noodles and dabbing her lips with her napkin.

Korra noticed then, that her darker shade of lipstick matched the polish on her nails.  Which was pretty cute.

Before she could get caught staring again, she returned to her noodles (well, Mako’s noodles technically) and proceeded to shove food in her mouth to distract from the thoughts bubbling in her mind.

“Do you mind if I ask about you and Mako?” Asami asked, pushing her empty bowl away.  “Not to pry, but I’m curious.  Why…why’d you two break up in the first place?”

Korra sputtered a bit with her noodles in her mouth, and tried to play it off as if she needed to cough.

Asami’s line of questioning today was anything but mundane…she didn’t mind being asked per say, but it was a little odd given the progression of their day so far.

“Oh…I mean, it wasn’t just one reason” she said, swallowing her mouthful and taking a drink.

“As much as I loved – love – Mako, we just weren’t on the same page very often.  Same book, yeah, but not the same page.”

She hesitated, catching a glimpse of Asami out of the corner of her eye and saw her listening intently with her hands folded on the table.

Clearing her throat, she continued by saying that part of her wasn’t surprised by Mako breaking up with her.  She’d kind of seen it coming.

She didn’t want to acknowledge it at the time – how often the two of them would argue, how there were so many misunderstandings and miscommunications that got between them.  It wasn’t all bad with Mako, not by a long shot, but as the months went by that spark that drew them together started to become a wildfire of emotions that were impossible to navigate.

“You guys fought a lot?” Asami asked, frowning.  “I don’t remember seeing the two of you fighting.”

“Well…I mean…you know how after the two of us started dating and we didn’t really, um…see you much?”

It made her feel uncomfortable to say it out loud, how easily she and Mako pushed Asami aside back then.  She managed to get over her jealousy of Asami fairly quickly, but once she and Mako started dating Korra’s mixed feelings of guilt and awkwardness was enough of an excuse to not bother trying to reconnect with her.

She wasn’t expecting Asami to get mad or anything, but her slight grin was confusing.

“Ohhh.  Yeah I do remember that.  You two kind of dropped off the face of the planet for a while.  I figured you were enjoying each other’s company too much to notice I wasn’t around.”

The end of that statement hit Korra like a blow to the gut.  Clearing her throat she returned to her story, she tried to keep in mind that Asami had said earlier she wasn’t angry with her.

Really, the last thing she wanted was for Asami to be angry with her when they were becoming so close.

“Yeah…anyway, there were other things, aside from the arguments.  When – okay so I found out from _Unalaq,_ of all people, that my parents and Tenzin had been _lying_ to me about why I was on the compound for so long.  For _sixteen years_ of my life.  I mean I know now that Unalaq was manipulating me, and it worked, but…well –“

Korra stopped and cleared her throat again in an attempt to steady her voice.  She didn’t want to be getting emotional talking about this but it wasn’t exactly easy.  She knew that her parents and Tenzin had her best interests in mind, but to be lied to like that about something so serious was cutting.

“Mako was with me when I found this out.  And not even a minute after Unalaq told me the truth, my dad and Tenzin start trying to make decisions about my future and my training _for me_ like I wasn’t even there!  I was so _angry,_ I couldn’t believe it.  After years of lying they treated me like I was a little kid.  After me exposing Amon and everything else they still treated me like…”

She stopped and took another drink to steady herself.  She was getting a little off topic.

“They treated me like I wasn’t adult enough to make my own decisions.  And I hated it.  I told Mako how frustrated I was with Tenzin in particular – lying to me and then just making plans for my training without asking me what I wanted – and he took his side!  He said Tenzin just wanted what’s best for me, and okay I get that, but I didn’t want to hear that at all.  It was like he didn’t even understand why I was so mad.  I wanted him to comfort me but he was so neutral about the situation it infuriated me.  That and when he ratted me out to Raiko…”

“Wait what?” Asami asked, “what about Raiko?”

Korra explained the situation – namely how when her tribe was at war and her father’s life was at stake and she went behind Raiko’s back for help after he refused her and Mako told Raiko what she was doing.

Asami was quiet for a moment before resting her hand once again on Korra’s shoulder.

“He did that?  I had no idea.  Did he ever tell you why?”

“Yeah, because it was _his job_ to let the president know what I was doing, and his job is just so important you know.  Way more important than helping my tribe and my family.”

She could feel the old anger at the situation rising in her again as if this had all happened only moments ago.  She didn’t want to be angry with Mako anymore but she still couldn’t wrap her mind around that betrayal.  He’d stabbed her in the back.  He took information she’d told him in confidence and given it over to _Raiko_ , who seemed to make it his personal mission to deflate Korra whenever he could.

It made her feel like Mako valued his job and loyalty to the worst president ever over her family’s safety.

She didn’t like where her thoughts were going at all – she wanted to be over the whole mess by now but talking about it got her riled up all over again.

“He said he didn’t want to have to make sure I didn’t make any more big mistakes.  Then he broke up with me.”

Their server came by again for their bowls and laughed once he saw all three were empty.

“Wow!  I mean I know you said you’d finish them both but…it’s surprising to see a girl eat so much.  Guess the avatar’s gotta stay full, huh?”

“Yeah I guess” Korra snapped back at him, not caring at all for his attitude when she was already feeling pretty angry as it was.  That and his comment earlier had messed everything up (even though he had no idea the effect it caused she was still ribbed by it).

He took the bowls and left without a word, and Korra folded her arms over the table, stewing.

She felt Asami squeeze her shoulder a bit and ask if she wanted to go do something fun to take her mind off Mako.

“It’s still the beginning of the day, and it’s nice outside.  We could go for a drive around the city, by the bay.”

Smiling a bit, Korra mentioned how the two of them going out for lunch was supposed to be the fun thing they did to take her mind off the vines.

“I have the feeling we’re going to go for a drive and something bad is gonna happen and we’re going to have to do something to take my mind of that too.”

Grinning, Asami said “Well, I don’t mind doing that, to be honest.  And we’ll go, just the two of us for a drive.  Unless you’re getting sick of me.”

“No way.  You know, you kid around too much.  Sure, let’s go.  I have no plans for today anyway.”

A drive alone with Asami, away from her problems.

Just the two of them, with Asami’s hair blowing behind her in the wind.  Maybe they’d spend the whole day together.

She liked the thought.


	5. Something that can't be ignored

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The more time she spends with Asami, the more Korra gets tired of running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a pain in my ass!!!

“Oookay, okay! How ‘bout a break? A little sit down? Some time to uh, breathe?”

Crossing her arms, Korra had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. She and Bolin had been at it for not even an hour and he had already taken three breaks.

“You know Bolin, you were the one who asked me to spar with you. I get the feeling you just wanted to get away from Meelo.”

“Well yeah, maybe. I mean, can you blame me?” he said as he earthbent himself a platform to sit on. “He’s always squeezing Pabu and asking me all these _questions_ – I mean at first it was fun, it was like I had a squishy faced little brother, but after a few days it got…tiring. Very tiring.”

She was a bit annoyed with his lack of endurance but she couldn’t really blame him about Meelo. He had it especially bad too; Meelo was all over him constantly.

Groaning, he clutched his side and pouted.

“You got me pretty good here. I think it’s gonna bruise…”

“That’s usually what happens when you get hit with a rock, Bolin.”

“You know Korra, I’m not sure if you’re aware but you’re the avatar –“

“Nope, I did not know that ‘till just now. Thanks for the update.”

“- And you’re pretty hard to keep up with! Even Toza wasn’t this rough on me! I’m a delicate boy, you can’t just –“

Smirking, Korra shifted his platform causing him to fall over on his side, yelling dramatically. Maybe she was being a bit too rough on him, but it was fun to spar with Bolin after so long.

Whether he was aware of it or not, this was just what she needed to keep her mind of the vines and her total lack of a plan of how to deal with them.

He wasn’t much of a heavy hitter, but Bolin could be pretty quick on his feet and creative with his bending, which was a fun in a different way.

Brushing the dirt out of his hair, Bolin stood, still clutching his side.

“Sorry Bo. I guess I got carried away again. Do you need me to heal that?”

“ _Whaaat, no,_ no way. I’m fine. I’ll be fine. It barely hurts. If I just stay hunched like this I don’t even notice it!”

She was going to push the matter further when she heard the distant sound of an engine from the other side of the island. She smiled a bit, turning to look behind her, knowing of course who it would be.

“Is that Asami? I haven’t seen her in forever” Bolin said, straightening out and wincing.

“Have you guys been hanging out or something?”

“Yeah, something” Korra said as she saw Asami approach from the top of the hill on her moped, her goggles pushed up to her forehead.

She felt her heart flutter when she looked at Asami then, maybe it was because it had been a few days since they’d seen each other, maybe not, but the feeling was nice.

When she thought about all the time she’d been spending with Asami and the things she was feeling when they were together she realized the only other time shed felt anything similar was when she was with Mako.

She tried to push the connection aside but just seeing Asami for the first time in a few days tugged at her chest, painfully.

“Hey you two!” Asami said brightly, pulling her moped to a stop on the trail next to them, “it’s been a while Bolin! We wanted to meet up with you before but you were out with Pema and Tenzin. It’s good to see you.”

It took a bit of a conscious effort for Korra to keep her eyes off Asami. Ever since the two of them had lunch at Narook’s and the thought of her being cute crossed her mind it was like she was noticing all sorts of things about her that she hadn’t before.

“Bolin are you okay? What happened to your side?”

“ _Korra_ happened. She’s been walloping me with rocks all day.”

Korra snorted a bit and said they’d just been sparring and it wasn’t her fault Bolin was a delicate boy.

Asami laughed, ruffling Bolin’s hair and saying that must be why he was covered in dirt.

Korra liked the sound of her laugh. She liked the way her eyes lit up when she smiled and she  _really_ had a hard time ignoring those thoughts.

She and Mako had been barely broken up, and now…

“Sorry I’ve been out of touch for a bit” Asami said, turning to Korra (who tried to seem like she hadn’t been staring), “I’ve just been so busy with Future Industries, and dealing with Cabbage Corp’s nonsense.”

“Cabbage Corp? What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you about it later, I really don’t want to talk about it now or I’m going to drive myself crazy. I just wanted to stop by and see if you wanted to hang out for a bit. I don’t mind waiting for you guys to finish up though.”

Korra assured Asami their sparring session was over, to which Bolin gave an audible sigh of relief.

“Really? I wouldn’t mind watching you two spar, to be honest. You always look your best in action” she replied, leaning back against her moped.

“No! Asami, don’t encourage her!”

“Not to mention I haven’t really seen you earthbend very much.”

Shrugging a bit Korra explained that while she did appreciate all types of bending, she always had a pretty big soft spot for firebending in particular. There was just such a raw power and passion in it that drew her – firebending felt like a mixture of the physicality of earthbending with the fluidity of waterbending.

Not to mention it looked pretty awesome.

“Oh. I guess I never thought of it that way” Asami said, cupping her chin, “then again I’m not a bender, so I have no frame of reference.”

“You know, when I was a kid I _always_ wanted to be a firebender” Bolin mentioned as he sat cross-legged on the ground next to Korra.

“Watching Mako, he always looked so _cool_ and impressive – not that I was neither of these things – but I do agree with Korra that there’s just something about firebending that’s attractive. To be honest I was pretty jealous I wasn’t a firebender too for a long time.”

This was interesting to both Korra and Asami, who mentioned Bolin seemed like such a natural earthbender.

“I just can’t picture you firebending – no offense” Asami added hastily. “What don’t you like about earthbending though?”

Bolin rubbed his neck self-consciously and murmured a bit, looking down at the ground.

“Well I mean… don’t laugh or anything, but… I’ve always thought Mako was the better bender between the two of us, and for a long time I just kind of associated firebending to being a better bender. I guess.”

Korra said nothing but she couldn’t quite see where he was coming from, as she’d always thought Bolin was a great bender. She had a sneaking suspicion his feelings had more to do with his feelings as a younger brother than his bending abilities.

“What? Bolin, no way, you’re a great bender!”

“Aw, Asami, you’re just saying that…”

“No, I mean it! Mako is great too, but you have your own strengths! I really loved watching the both of you bending in the arena; you worked so well together.”

It was a bit amusing for Korra to see Asami reassuring Bolin so much, and she could tell he was soaking it all up.

Asami always seemed to have such ease in reassuring people; it looked so natural for her, or at least Korra thought so. She liked that about her.

“I mean Mako’s style might be more sharp and direct, but yours is playful and lively. You shouldn’t get down on yourself for not being a copy of him.”

“ _Awww,_ jeez. You flatter me” he said bashfully, a slight color to his cheeks. 

“I can kind of relate, though” Asami said, folding her arms.

“I’ve always been so fascinated by bending ever since I was a kid…”

Asami had a bit of a wistful expression on her face Korra hadn’t seen before, and it intrigued her. It hit her then that Asami didn’t talk much about her past. Actually, Korra was sure she never heard Asami mention anything about her childhood.

“It’s kind of embarrassing to talk about – and don’t laugh” she said, smiling at Bolin, “but sometimes when I was a kid I’d pretend to waterbend in the bathtub. I don’t do it _anymore_ , of course” she added hastily at Bolin, who was raising his eyebrows at her.

Korra had a bit of a hard time not laughing, and she had to turn away a bit to hide her smile. The image of composed Asami pretending to waterbend was a bit too much not to laugh at, and it was pretty cute…

“You know I used to do the same thing” she said, turning back with a full on grin, “I mean I was actually _waterbending,_ but…”

Asami nudged Korra’s arm playfully, grinning at her through the slight blush on her cheeks.

It was hard not to feel the spark between them as they made eye contact, Korra’s heart skittering as Asami tucked her hair back behind her flushed ear. Did Asami feel it too?

The thought had been floating around her mind for the past few days – that this was all silly, she was just realizing how fun it was being with Asami and wanted to be with her more, that was all.

The thought had also been floating around her mind though, that she never felt anything like this with Bolin. Just Mako…and Asami.

Clearing her throat a bit, Asami went on to say she was kind of disappointed when she realized she’d never be a bender.

“I got over it of course, and all the self-defense classes my father put me through helped that. Still, I think bending would be pretty fun.”

“Oh it is” Bolin said, rubbing his side, “it’s a bit more fun when you’re not getting beaten up though.”

“I said if it hurts I’d heal it!”

They were having a pretty good time; Asami had a lot of questions about bending forms and techniques, and it was interesting to hear Bolin’s input about earthbending.

His pro bending coaching had helped her loosen up a bit out of the traditional style she was used to, but even so he was still lighter on his feet than she was (which led to quicker, but softer blows).

Korra had to admit she was showboating a bit by showing off various stances for Asami, who seemed genuinely interested in learning. She liked that, she  _really_ liked to hear about Asami’s interest in bending.

And the thought of Asami pretending to waterbend was nothing but adorable, it was impossible not to think about and grin to herself.

Soon after Bolin started to show Asami the difference between a front and straight horse stance (she said nothing, but his straight horse was awkward-looking to say the least, probably because of his side) Pema appeared from the top of the hill, carrying a fussy Rohan.

“Hey Bolin?” she called, “Mako’s on the phone for you! He says it’s urgent.”

“Aw man! Watch, I bet it’s something like _Bolin, I saw you left your clothes on the floor again, and they’re going to get wrinkled!”_

He ran off, saying he’d be right back and telling them not to have too much fun without him. As soon as he was out of earshot Asami immediately turned to Korra and said the last time they’d seen Bolin’s room Mako was literally picking clothes off the floor and folding them for him, so she wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

Laughing, Korra mentioned to Asami that most of the time Mako spent at Air Temple Island he spent cleaning up after Bolin and apologizing to Pema for the mess.

“The funniest part though” she said, “is that Pema just doesn’t even go into his room anymore. She says she doesn’t want to _step on Mako’s toes_.”

Korra had to admit she was happy Bolin was preoccupied – nothing against him of course, and she really did have fun hanging out with him, but she was dying to spend time alone with Asami again.

When she was with Asami she really felt like herself; she felt like she could share anything with her without being judged or second-guessed. She had the thought before but it was stronger now, that it was really amazing how well she and Asami had clicked together.

She was glad Asami decided to come over.

“Hey, do you mind showing me around this place?” Asami asked, patting the seat of her moped.

“When I was staying here before I didn’t really get a good look around. I figure you know the place well enough to give me a tour.”

Korra agreed with no hesitation (and tried not to look too eager), mentioning there was one place in particular she thought Asami would really love.

“We can take this trail up here, it’s really not that far…um, what…?”

Asami climbed back onto her moped and gave Korra an expectant look, gesturing for Korra to get on too.

“Oh, moped? You don’t want to walk?”

“If it’s not a particularly rough trail we can totally make it on my moped. Want to go for another ride? There’s plenty of room.”

Korra didn’t really need any convincing. She sat on the seat behind Asami and felt a bit flustered at how close they were.

Really, _really_ close. 

It was pretty nice.

“You should hold onto me” Asami said as she started the engine, “or else you’ll fall off.”

“Ok, yeah. Sure.”

Korra couldn’t believe how easy it was as she slid her arms around Asami’s waist, thankful for the fact that she couldn’t see her face.

Asami was warm and her hair smelled like flowers, and she felt so soft…

_This is nice, I want to stay like this, I_ like  _this…_

The thought crossed her mind that this wasn’t a normal feeling, to feel this way about a friend. This was different, the way her heart was pounding by being with Asami like the she was.

It was something more… and again it reminded her of how she felt about Mako before.

“Which way is it?” Asami asked over the sound of the engine.

“Which way is what?”

“The place you wanted to show me, silly! I figured you’d be the one giving directions!”

“Oh yeah, uh, it’s just… go up ahead for a bit, but the trail gets kinda rough so we’ll have to walk the rest of the way.”

“Alright! Hold on tight.”

It was a short ride, unfortunately. It was probably about five minutes or so at the speed they were going but it felt like seconds. It was really bittersweet agony not knowing if she was holding onto Asami  _too_ tightly, or maybe Asami wouldn’t be bothered if she held her closer… Korra really wanted to bury her face in Asami’s hair but she definitely knew that’d be a bit much.

Once they’d reached the point where the trail got too rocky to drive over they had to start walking, which meant letting Asami go. She didn’t want to.

It was comforting to hold onto her, but as Asami turned the key and shut down the engine Korra withdrew her arms and slid off the back of the moped, her chest stinging.

_Stop kidding yourself. You know exactly what this is._

“So what’re we looking for?” Asami asked, getting off her moped and turning to face Korra with bright eyes. “You’ve got me all excited.”

_Same here_ Korra thought, clearing her throat and trying to clear her mind.

_Push all that aside…don’t think about it, just have fun with your friend, don’t make things weird…_

“I’m not gonna tell you before we get there! Don’t get your hopes up too much though, it’s nothing spectacular.”

Korra led the way through the brush, glancing back at Asami a few times to catch her eager expression and spirits was it  _cute._

Again there was the voice in her head telling her to  _ignore it,_ let the thoughts slip out of her head and don’t dwell on them but…

“Oh my gosh, is that – this is it?”

They weren’t exactly there yet, but it was still visible through the path they were walking despite the trees enclosing the two of them.

Stepping aside, she let Asami walk past her and onto the soft white sands surrounding the lake.

It was one of the last places Ikki and Jinora had shown her on her initial tour of Air Temple Island, and it was somewhere she tended to visit whenever she was in the mood to brush up on her waterbending (it was fairly secluded by two small ridges, so it was a bit more private than splashing around in the bay around the island).

“I had no idea this was here! It’s beautiful…”

“Yeah? Check this out, c’mere.”

Korra had the urge to hold her hand out to Asami as she approached her but suffocated it immediately; she didn’t want Asami to get the wrong idea after their moped ride.

_What’s the wrong idea though?_

Asami stood next to her, all warm smiles and bright eyes, and Korra was having a bit of a hard time containing her excitement. She knew Asami would love it.

"Korra this place is so...well it's so _beautiful!"_

Korra sat down in the sand as Asami slipped off her boots and lifted her skirt up above her ankles to wade in the water.

"I can't believe we didn't come here sooner! The rest of the island is amazing too but it feels like a whole different place here."

Korra grinned a bit at this, because Asami's thoughts pretty much mirrored her own when she'd first seen the lake. For most of the day the sun was obstructed by the two ridges enclosing the lake, giving it a cool, shady atmosphere. The waters were still, and the sounds of the bay crashing onto the island was amplified by the ridges - it was a pretty relaxing sound.

Korra usually came here alone aside from a few times recently when she and Kya would use the lake as a sparring ground, but she could definitely see coming here again with Asami if it made her this happy.

If she ever thought Asami was cute before it was nothing compared to seeing her now, smiling like a kid and marveling at the scenery around them.

Absentmindedly running her fingers through the sand, Korra couldn't take her eyes away from Asami, the girl who not too long ago she barely knew and definitely didn't think she'd ever get so close to.

If she could go back in time and tell herself that in the span of a couple weeks she'd be sitting and watching Asami feeling what she was feeling no way would she have believed it.

It was still a little hard to believe.

Stepping out of the water Asami pulled Korra out of her thoughts by asking about the island.

"Was it always here, or...?"

"Hm? Oh no, Aang made this whole island himself, a little after founding Republic City with Firelord Zuko. At least according to Tenzin. I never really thought much about it, but it's pretty cool. Maybe I'll make my own island someday."

Sitting in the sand next to Korra, Asami said she'd like to see that.

Korra dug her fingers deeper into the sand, looking out over the lake and listening to the sounds of the birds and the waves from the bay.

She really wished there was more time in the day for them to stay where they were.

The sun was starting to set, which made the lake shimmer a pretty neat color (which Asami commented on of course).

"I can only imagine how it must look during the sunrise" Asami said gently, hugging her knees and staring out ahead.

"We should see it sometime" Korra said without thinking, "I've never been here during the sunrise so it'll be new for the both of us."

Asami rested her chin on her knees and giggled a bit, wiggling her toes in the sand.

_I_ definitely _want to come here with her again..._

"Korra, I thought you said before you weren't a morning person. Why would you want to get out of bed before the sun rises and come here?"

_Because you said you wanted to see it and I want to make you happy_...is what Korra wanted to say but had the sense enough not to unload her feelings in that way.

"I dunno; it's fun to do things different sometimes. I mean, if you ever really wanted to come here in the morning I'd be fine with it. I wouldn't make it a _habit_ but...yeah."

"Sounds nice in theory, but I don't think the ferry runs that early."

Korra was silent for a moment, knowing already what she wanted to say but unsure of how it would come across.

"Well, you could always just spend the night here on the island, if you wanted to. Pema and Tenzin really wouldn't mind; you've stayed here before."

It shouldn't have felt like she was taking an uneasy step through the dark by just inviting Asami over for the night - it wasn't a big deal really - but that's what it felt like all the same. She knew enough about Asami at that point to know she'd never shoot her down bluntly or be mean about it, but even a gentle letdown would be enough for Korra to wish she'd never asked.

"...Really? You're being serious?" Asami said, turning to look Korra in the eyes with an unreadable expression on her face. "Are there any spare rooms in the house? I mean with Tenzin's brother and sister, and Mako and Bolin - if it came down to it I could stay with the acolytes but -"

"No way!" Korra said quickly, leaning a bit towards Asami without even being aware of it, "I'd never have you stay with them! Not anything against the acolytes but - well I mean, don't worry about the rooms. It might've been a problem if Mako ever actually slept in his room, but he seems to prefer the station. So it's not an issue at all. You can stay over any time you want!"

Asami's expression softened into a deep, warm smile that made Korra's heart practically skip a beat.

She was beyond cute, she was _beautiful_. Of course Korra had always known that, but she truly felt it then, seeing Asami with the low sun rays pouring over her and that smile on her face...

"Yeah...yeah it'll be fun" Korra said a bit awkwardly, moving her gaze back out to the lake. "We'll have a girl's night. You can give me a makeover or whatever."

Asami thanked Korra for the offer, stretching her legs out and setting her hands in the sand, just inches away from Korra's.

"I'd like that...although I really don't think you need a makeover."

"Oh. Thanks."

A little murmur of excitement was growing in Korra as they sat in silence for a bit, sitting so close next to each other.

_Ask! Just ask her, do it now or you'll never do it!_

Korra had some reservations but felt like she was on a roll, and she might as well see how long she could stay that way. She wasn't used to feeling the amount of hesitation that she was feeling – she felt better in action, after all.

"So, how about tonight? We could get some of your things from your place and come back here in the morning" she said, still looking out at the lake.

"Or we can go some other time if it's too soon or whatever. Whenever's good for you" she finished maybe a bit too quickly when she felt like she might've been coming across as too eager.

"No, that sounds great. I'd love to stay over tonight" Asami replied without missing a beat. "To be honest I kind of wanted to ask if I could stay over tonight but I didn't know if maybe you wanted to do it another time."

Korra stole a glance at Asami, seeing she was turned away, tracing a drawing in the sand next to her.

She wished she could see what kind of face she was making then, and if she was smiling.

Glancing back out over the lake Korra couldn't help herself from beaming with excitement. This day was going so much better than the last time they'd been together, and she hoped the night would be just as fun.

She felt so comfortably at peace; not worried about Mako, or the vines, or Raiko, or _anything._ She was just happy to be spending time with Asami.

"I was wondering" Asami said suddenly, "did Aang make this area here just for Katara?"

Korra thought for a moment but didn't really know for sure. It hadn't really crossed her mind before.

"I'll ask Kya; she'd definitely know. Now that I think about it, it makes sense, seeing as how they were both waterbenders, and this is a pretty nice training spot...and I do remember Kya mentioning coming here a lot with Katara when she was a kid. Maybe he did it so Katara would have her own private place on the island."

Asami hummed softly, turning away again to sift through the sand, and mentioned that creating something like this for Katara's sake was a pretty wonderful expression of his love for her.

"I'd heard before how great of a couple they were" she finished, still turned away, still running her fingers through the sand.

"You did?" Korra asked, a bit surprised. "Who told you that?"

"My father. He'd met Aang quite a few times before I was born. My parents had been living here when it was just a Fire Nation colony before the founding of Republic City. And from what I heard Aang was deeply involved with my parent's work. Before he passed."

Asami turned back to stare at the lake before hugging her knees once more and sighing.

She looked...sad.

Korra felt a bit uncomfortable - Asami had never mentioned her dad to Korra ever since he was imprisoned, and she knew it had to be a sensitive subject, and because of that she had no idea of how to react to Asami then.

She didn't want to push things too far or make her feel worse.

Asami sighed again, furrowing her brow and closing her eyes before falling silent again.

Earlier the sound of the waves was comforting and relaxing but now it was anything but. The jarring shift in mood between the two of them was making the silence unbearable.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked slowly. "I might not be able to relate to your situation too much but - well I mean you've talked with me about things that were bothering me, and it made me feel better. Like the whole Mako thing, and the vines...and you listened to me before about being on the compound. I want to return the favor. I want to make you smile if I can."

For some reason laying that out in front of Asami seemed to be the final confirmation Korra needed of how she felt and what Asami's relationship with her meant. She wasn't stupid, she'd known for a while now that she was falling for her, but it was easy to try and push the feelings away.

After all, she'd rushed headlong into being with Mako as soon as she realized she liked him romantically, and just looking at where the two of them stood now in relation to each other...it wasn't what she wanted at all. She didn't want that to happen with Asami.

Because of that she thought it wouldn't be too difficult to try and smooth her feelings over and not confront them but now she realized it was pointless.

Even if she tried to turn away the feelings would still be there. She was tired of turning away from them anyway – she enjoyed how she felt. She wanted those feelings to stay.

"Thanks Korra, but I'll be fine. I shouldn't have even brought my dad up right now when we're supposed to be having fun. I wouldn't mind talking about it later though. If you don't mind."

"I don't."

Asami smiled faintly, gently placing her hand over Korra's.

Korra turned her hand over and linked her fingers with Asami's not stopping to worry about how it might come across, or if it was too bold.

All the feelings she'd been side-stepping until then came surging to the forefront of her mind and it was all she could do to stop herself from spilling everything right then and there.

_Spirits, I'm in a mess. What in the world am I going to do about this?_

"Thank you Korra, for bringing me here, it's really amazing. And I never would've even seen it if we didn't become friends. I'm glad I'm here...I've been having a really nice time with you."

Korra stumbled through her dont-worry-about-it response, feeling Asami squeeze her hand a bit, looking straight into her eyes with a look that was just about enough to floor her.

The sound of the waves seemed to recede a bit as they sat together in silence - Korra thought the sound of her heart beating was surely loud enough for Asami to notice.

"Yeah I'm - I've been having a good time with you too. It's pretty refreshing to tell the truth. Not to be weird or anything but I haven't really...I dunno, I haven't been having the best of times lately and it's easy to forget that when I'm with you."

"It's not weird at all" Asami said softly, glancing down a bit and softly running her thumb over Korra's.

"I feel the same way."

She looked back up at Korra, smiling softly and that was it - everything that was keeping her back up until then just didn't matter - there wasn't any reason to hesitate anymore.

She moved closer to Asami and placed her free hand on her knee, gauging her reaction.

The smile was still there, and they were so close...all she had to do was lean up and kiss her.

If there was ever a right moment she felt like it was right then and there.

Before she could psyche herself out, Korra tentatively leaned up, knowing that everything between them was going to change once their lips met.

Asami looked so beautiful and Korra could only imagine what her lips felt like, if they were as soft as they looked...

Maybe it was some kind of divine intervention, the cosmos telling her that now was _not_ the time - she didn't exactly get the chance to follow through.

Practically just as she'd made the decision to make her move, Bolin and Naga came crashing through the trail behind them, causing Asami to jolt in surprise and Korra's heart to swiftly drop to the bottom of her stomach.

_Are you_ kidding _me Bolin?_ she thought sharply, sliding her hand off Asami's knee and turning to look behind her with what she hoped was a very clearly agitated expression.

Then, of all times. Of course he'd show up. How did she not hear Naga?

"Bolin? What's wrong?" Asami asked as she hastily stood up and wiped the sand off of her skirt with an almost painfully neutral expression.

"I've been looking all over the place for you two!" he said as he awkwardly slid off Naga's back and approached them, " I had to get Naga to track you here, I just got off the phone with Mako and - oh wow this place is super pretty, why haven't we hung out here before -"

"Bolin _what_ is it?" Korra said, fighting the growing urge to airbend him back up over the ridge in frustration.

With the moment she and Asami had been sharing gone, her senses were rushing back to her, and she couldn't believe what she almost did.

What if Asami had turned away? Or, she thought petulantly, what if Asami had kissed her back and she'd missed out on that window of opportunity because of Bolin's absolutely horrible timing?

Putting it bluntly, she wasn't happy with the way things had turned out.

She could still feel the warmth of Asami's hand on hers, and could still see that soft smile on her face...

"Oh sorry! Well it's I mean it's not really good news, maybe you want to sit down for this Asami."

"Bolin I'm _fine_ , just tell me what's wrong" Asami said firmly. There was a bit of an edge to her voice, and Korra wondered if Asami was as upset by Bolin's timing as she was.

Bolin glanced from Asami to Korra and back again before clumsily giving them the news he'd heard from Mako. Once he'd finished he pursed his lips and awkwardly apologized for being the bearer of bad news.

Immediately Korra turned to look at Asami, and every little thing that had made the day special up until then was eclipsed by the look of silent defeat on her face. If it was hard to see Asami upset like she was earlier it was nothing compared to now.

It didn't look like they were going to have their sleepover.

 

 


End file.
